Question

[Rickiesmom]

My vet only carries Hills, and their second option is Purina, but they order in the Royal Canin for me. If you like the look of it, maybe your vet will bring it in for you too. Wish I was closer, I could just give you a ziploc full to try.

 

ETA - hope he eats the hamburger and rice for you!

Edited February 10, 2013 by Rickiesmom

[krissn333]

I haven't known many hounds who will actually eat the K/D willingly, dry or canned. Sutra turned his nose up at it at every turn. I started making stuff for him instead. They'd put him on the K/D because they were worried his kidneys had taken a hit with the pancreatitis. Once we knew that wasn't the case, we upped the protein. Once I got him eating again, we had him on Solid Gold Wolf King with good results. Eventually he was able to eat TOTW Pacific Stream.

[3DogNite]

Lazer has been on Diltiazem for 18 months, along with plavix and enalapril

 

we opted for no asprin because I am doing many Theraputic grade essential oils that are woking at the cellular level - to thin his blood and

they also work with the viscosity of the cell so they don't clump and stick and clot.

 

Lazers kidneys are working fine - it's always been about loosing protein for him.

For a very long time all he ate was RAW hamburger!!!! i put all his pills in them and he would just eat the raw hamburger meat balls,, this is what we

still do today - however he is actually eating a mix of home cooked and commercially prepared RAW chicken diet.

 

Try RAW hamburger - pm me if you want to know a little more about the oils... at the very least - your house will smell really good as he walks around

-- your very own aroma-hound!

 

Good luck!!!

[TheFullHouse]

He ate the hamburger and rice! Poor boy acted like he was starving! He was done before everyone else! He got his meds after eating so hopefully that helps. True test will be tomorrow morning. I'm still calling the vet and chatting with her in the morning.

 

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions and help. Something tells me I may be using a lot of your suggestions before all is said and done, but for tonight at least he ate.

[Guest PhillyPups]

No experience here, just seeing this and sending to you.

[gazehund]

Good boy Bullitt! Hang in there you guys.

[krissn333]

Glad he ate, and with gusto!

[Batmom]

Ah, good news! Keep eating, Bullitt!

[Guest Vers]

Good boy, Bullitt, and please keep eating, okay? Wishing you a stronger and happier day tomorrow.

 

An alternative to soup is aseptic boxed beef or chicken broth -- the low or no sodium versions are common and keep well in the pantry.

[joejoesmom]

My Shelby has been on a low protein, low phosphorus diet for 3 years now. Here are her preferences -- of course Bullitt might not agree.

 

1) Iams Renal -- this is an early stage renal. It has low phosphorus and moderate protein.

2) Purina -- their renal formula (and the others that follow are for later stages as they have less protein). Shelby liked this but it gave her diarrhea.

3) Hills K/D -- she likes it OK but it gives her soft stools

4) Royal Canin -- she doesn't particularly like this but it seems to give her better stools, but still soft.

 

I have discovered that adding a packet of Fortiflora to each meal helps firm up her stools. I will add a little bit of starch (pasta is her favorite) or egg to her meal sometimes. I sometimes add some homemade broth. I also will make some food to add to her kibble. I still keep her primarily on kibble. This is only because I have a chronic illness and I am afraid to commit to a 100 percent home cooked diet in case I am unable to make it for her. Sometimes for several weeks, it is all I can do to get out of bed and scoop food for her.

 

If you use chicken (or pork) in Bullitt's food, you need to be sure to get some that is not "enhanced" with a broth solution. This solution usually has a lot of phosphorus, although not marked as such. Remove all bones before you cook it as bones are high in phosphorus.

 

If you want to find phosphorus and protein amounts in various foods you can check at this site:

 

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

 

Here you will find that sweet potato has 32 mg of phosphorus per 100 grams while white potato has 50 mg. Both would be appropriate kidney foods.

 

Jane

[GreyPoopon]

I'm sorry he's feeling so punk. I hope he hangs on until his medical issues are under control.

 

FWIW, Jessie was diagnosed with kidney disease just over a year ago, and her appetite is incredibly erratic. It's not necessarily that she's not hungry, but that her appetite is very food-specific. We had to give up on low protein foods altogether. For a time, she returned to the kibble that she'd been on, and that her refusal to eat caused us to run the tests that showed her kidneys weren't working well. She recently decided that she'd prefer another kibble. That lasted for a couple of weeks, and now her tastes have changed again. Along the way, we've also been through raw (nope), cooked (maybe), canned (sometimes), and so on. The only thing that has kept her alive this long is that she gets anabolic steroids to increase her appetite. (Plus, of course, stomach protection meds and all sorts of other meds.)

 

In other words, you have to jump through hoops, and unfortunately, he can't tell you what hoops he's using.

[TheFullHouse]

He ate this morning and he ate with gusto! I offered him the K/D and he turns his nose up at it so it must be the food, so I'm following Jey's recipe and he chowed down. I will call the vet today and inform her of what's going on and get her input. Hopefully he won't have to stay on this long term. He's on it now to protect his kidneys while we figure out what is going on.

[Rickiesmom]

Great news Judy!

[Batmom]

So glad he's eating!

 

If homecooked makes your vet nervous, I can scan and email you the Hill's recipe sheet. It was copyrighted in 1989. I don't know if they still give it out. My vet had it and made a copy for me.

[TheFullHouse]

I found that recipe while doing some research last night Jey so I copied it, thanks! I think I'm going to do like you suggested and cook up a big batch of it and freeze some so it doesn't seem like I'm in the kitchen all the time.

[KF_in_Georgia]

How's Bullitt doing?

 

I just pulled up this thread tonight because I think I'm going to need the kidney-friendly diet info for Sam. I'll get him to the vet tomorrow if I can get an appointment: when he's lying nearby and breathing in my direction, I'm smelling ammonia. And, while I've upped his pain meds and adjusted the schedule to compensate for his no longer getting an anti-inflammatory, it's clear he's not feeling his usual self and not eating with as much gusto.

 

He does, however, want whatever I'm eating, so the appetite isn't gone...

[TheFullHouse]

Bullitt is doing very well on the home cooked K/D diet. He's back to jumping up when he see's his bowl and his appetite is great! The swelling has gone down in his back legs and I think his tummy looks a bit smaller so I hope he's finally absorbing some of the fluid in it. He goes Friday for another blood pressure check.

 

My vet said she has two more K/D diets she's going to give me. If you would like I can post them here when I get them.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Even if I can't use them, I'm sure someone else can.

 

I want to talk to Sam's vet. We're just coming off an ulcer problem, so I'm nervous about food changes in general. And his appetite hasn't recovered, so that's another reason to be leery of food other dogs haven't wanted to eat. He turned his nose up at potatoes and oatmeal, so I went back to kibble to get him to eat something, but he's still only eating 3 cups instead of 4. And he's not feeling great (not sleeping as well), but is that his kidneys? Or are his pain meds out of whack? Or both?

Edited February 14, 2013 by KF_in_Georgia

[KF_in_Georgia]

Dodged some trouble with Sam. The ammonia smell went away. (I know I didn't imagine it, but there's no sign of big trouble today.) A urinalysis this morning reveals a straightforward UTI: no fever, no pain on palpation of his kidneys or his stomach, minimal protein in his urine but a good few white blood cells. This means we're adding Keflex to his current meds (soloxine, metronidazole, methocarbamol, gabapentin, tramadol, doxepin, Prilosec and probiotics).

 

On the other hand, the vet said Sam was showing a lot of pain along his neck and his upper back (thoracic region, around his shoulder blades), which means I don't have his pain meds figured right--or we're reaching the point where what I'm giving him just won't do the job.

[TheFullHouse]

Oh my, poor guy. Hope you get his meds right soon so the poor guy can get some relief.

 

Through all of this, Bullit has shown no signs of pain any where.